Ultrastructural Study of Promastigotes of Leishmania from Reptiles*

SYNOPSIS. The ultrastructure of promastigotes of 4 reptilian isolates of Leishmania grown in culture, is described. One mammalian isolate of Leishmania is also examined for comparison. No differences in the basic ultrastructure of these strains are apparent; neither is there any significant digression from the organization described for other trypanosomatids. It appears, however, that the numbers of subpellicular microtubules are of potential use in taxonomy, and that differences in the spacing of these organelles exist between reptilian and mammalian forms. In addition, an attempt is made to clarify aspects of attachment of the flagellum to the subpellicular tubule network, and to the anterior face of the kinetoplast. Finally, the formation of multivesiculate bodies from the Golgi apparatus is described, together with some features of dividing forms.     

Goldfish use the visual angle of a familiar landmark to locate a food source

Three goldfish were trained to search for food buried 20 cm from a perspex tower. In the absence of food, all fish still searched in the correct location, revealing that fish can use a landmark to locate food. Halving either the width or height of the landmark resulted in searches significantly closer to the tower, suggesting that fish determined their position relative to the landmark using its horizontal and vertical visual angles.     

Population and size-specific distribution of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in the Baltic Sea over five decades

Population-specific assessment and management of anadromous fish at sea requires detailed information about the distribution at sea over ontogeny for each population. However, despite a long history of mixed-stock sea fisheries on Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, migration studies showing that some salmon populations feed in different regions of the Baltic Sea and variation in dynamics occurs among populations feeding in the Baltic Sea, such information is often lacking. Also, current assessment of Baltic salmon assumes equal distribution at sea and therefore equal responses to changes in off-shore sea fisheries. Here, we test for differences in distribution at sea among and within ten Atlantic salmon Salmo salar populations originating from ten river-specific hatcheries along the Swedish Baltic Sea coast, using individual data from >125,000 tagged salmon, recaptured over five decades. We show strong population and size-specific differences in distribution at sea, varying between year classes and between individuals within year classes. This suggests that Atlantic salmon in the Baltic Sea experience great variation in environmental conditions and exploitation rates over ontogeny depending on origin and that current assessment assumptions about equal exploitation rates in the offshore fisheries and a shared environment at sea are not valid. Thus, our results provide additional arguments and necessary information for implementing population-specific management of salmon, also when targeting life stages at sea.     

DNA replication cycle in parthenogenetically developing eggs of the starfish Asterina pectinifera

Starfish oocytes artificially activated by a calcium ionophore will develop normally if the formation of polar bodies is suppressed. In the present paper, schedules of the DNA replication period (S phase) of these parthenogenotes were explicitly timed using 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) and anti-BrdU monoclonal antibody. Their schedule of S phase was identical to that of fertilized eggs. Consequently, an S phase regulation system is triggered even in parthenogenotes raised by dual treatment of egg activation and polar body suppression. The S phase schedule of parthenogenotes confirms the temporal pattern of chromosome duplication, observed by other researchers, leading to tetraploid parthenogenotes. The S phase determination also provides a basis for argument concerning the number of centrioles participating in parthenogenetic development. If polar body formation of activated eggs was not suppressed, the first S phase was normal, but the second S phase did not recur on time. A rigidly regulated system of DNA replication cycle, which should be an essential prerequisite for parthenogenesis, thus requires the content of polar bodies.     

Patterns of size variation in bees at a continental scale: does Bergmann's rule apply?

Body size latitudinal clines have been widley explained by the Bergmann's rule in homeothermic vertebrates. However, there is no general consensus in poikilotherms organisms in particular in insects that represent the large majority of wildlife. Among them, bees are a highly diverse pollinators group with high economic and ecological value. Nevertheless, no comprehensive studies of species assemblages at a phylogenetically larger scale have been carried out even if they could identify the traits and the ecological conditions that generate different patterns of latitudinal size variation. We aimed to test Bergmann's rule for wild bees by assessing relationships between body size and latitude at continental and community levels. We tested our hypotheses for bees showing different life history traits (i.e. sociality and nesting behaviour). We used 142 008 distribution records of 615 bee species at 50 × 50 km (CGRS) grids across the West Palearctic. We then applied generalized least squares fitted linear model (GLS) to assess the relationship between latitude and mean body size of bees, taking into account spatial autocorrelation. For all bee species grouped, mean body size increased with higher latitudes, and so followed Bergmann's rule. However, considering bee genera separately, four genera were consistent with Bergmann's rule, while three showed a converse trend, and three showed no significant cline. All life history traits used here (i.e. solitary, social and parasitic behaviour; ground and stem nesting behaviour) displayed a Bergmann's cline. In general there is a main trend for larger bees in colder habitats, which is likely to be related to their thermoregulatory abilities and partial endothermy, even if a ‘season length effect’ (i.e. shorter foraging season) is a potential driver of the converse Bergmann's cline particularly in bumblebees.     

铁皮石斛林下立体栽培比较研究

选取种植方式、树体及其部位作为研究对象,对不同林下栽培模式下铁皮石斛Dendrobium officinale存活率、增殖系数及增重系数进行比较研究。结果表明,不同种植方式的铁皮石斛存活率大小依次为：悬挂式树段(98.55%)＞树体(95.86%)＞砖石(92.67%)＞苗床(72.97%),悬挂式树段种植方式与其他三种方式均存在显著差异;而不同树的铁皮石斛存活率大小依次为：树菠萝(96.43%)＞龙眼(96.22%)＞杧果(95.37%)＞荔枝(93.54%)＞马尾松(32.93%),前三种树与其他树存在显著差异;不同部位则以树杈部存活率(86.89%)最高。比较不同种植方式的铁皮石斛增殖与增重系数,附生种植方式两指标均显著高于林下苗床种植方式,附生种植方式中又以悬挂式树段种植方式的系数值最高,其三年后增殖系数与增重系数分别为3.50和4.55,并与其他附生方式均存在显著差异。因此,在亚热带林下立体栽培模式下,铁皮石斛的种植应以悬挂式树段种植方式为主,并充分利用常绿阔叶类乔木树种及砖石类等载体进行附生种植。     

Mixed evidence for early bursts of morphological evolution in extant clades

Macroevolutionary theory predicts high rates of evolution should occur early in a clade's history as species exploit ecological opportunity. Evidence from the fossil record has shown a high prevalence of early bursts in morphological evolution, but recent work has provided little evidence for early high rates in the evolution of extant clades. Here, I test the prevalence of early bursts in extant data using phylogenetic comparative methods. Existing models are extended to allow a shift from a background Brownian motion (BM) process to an early burst process within subclades of phylogenies, rather than an early burst being applied to an entire phylogenetic tree. This nested early burst model is compared to other modes of evolution that can occur within subclades, such as evolution with a constraint (Ornstein‐Uhlenbeck model) and nested BM rate shift models. These relaxed models are validated using simulations and then are applied to body size evolution of three major clades of amniotes (mammals, squamates and aves) at different levels of taxonomic organization (order, family). Applying these unconstrained models greatly increases the support for early bursts within nested subclades, and so early bursts are the most common model of evolution when only one shift is analysed. However, the relative fit of early burst models is worse than models that allow for multiple shifts of the BM or OU process. No single‐shift or homogenous model is superior to models of multiple shifts in BM or OU evolution, but the patterns shown by these multirate models are generally congruent with patterns expected from early bursts.     

Comparing Culicoides biting rates in horses and cattle in The Netherlands: potential relevance to African horse sickness epidemiology

To determine relative host preference rates and to establish whether a pair of animals in close proximity (between–host interaction) modified Culicoides attack and abundance profiles, compared to those tethered in isolation (host independence), Culicoides midges were pooted hourly from two sets of experimental animals: (1) a heifer cow and Fjord horse tethered close together (5 m apart), and (2) a heifer and Fjord tethered in isolation (45 m apart). Over 12 days, 570 3‐min observations yielded 23 090 midges, representing 24 species. Approximately 95% belonged to the Culicoides obsoletus (Meigen) complex (two species), Culicoides dewulfi Goetghebuer, Culicoides chiopterus (Meigen), Culicoides punctatus (Meigen), Culicoides pulicaris (L.), and Culicoides achrayi Kettle & Lawson (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) combined. There was no evidence for between‐host interaction. Mean Culicoides species‐specific attack rates did not differ between animal species, except that C. chiopterus was 7× more abundant on the legs of the heifer compared to the horse, and C. dewulfi twice as abundant on the upper half of the horse compared to the heifer. By contrast, mean species–specific biting rates of the C. obsoletus complex, C. chiopterus, C. dewulfi, C. punctatus, and C. pulicaris midges were 5×, 100×, 1.7×, 2×, and 2.5× lower in the horses compared to the heifers, respectively. It is not clear why high Culicoides attack rates observed in the horses do not convert into high biting rates as seen in cattle; this should be a subject for future research. In light of its apparent predilection for equids, the ability of C. dewulfi to replicate African horse sickness virus (AHSV) extrinsically should be investigated in the laboratory.